End the hate

I’ve never really felt the effects of anti-Semitism. That says a lot about how far people have come, even in the last hundred years. My hometown of Indianapolis was once the headquarters of the Klan; now it’s a safe environment for raising children of a different race or religion.

Which isn’t to say racism is gone, but it’s nice to live in a community that not only tolerates different people but also embraces them and stands up for them.

It’s heartening to see all the support IU and the Bloomington community have given to the Jewish community after the attacks of recent weeks.

The first I heard of the incidents was in an e-mail from the provost (Facebook, you failed me), but I was instantly disturbed. The IU student body is about 10 percent Jewish (which, for Indiana, is pretty high), not to mention all the other minorities IU embraces. In this day and age, who would want to hurt people like that? This isn’t the first time something like this has happened this semester.

The only good that has come of this and other incidents is the support the attacked groups have been shown. It’s encouraging to see IU and Bloomington rally around the victims to show their commitment to making this a safe, welcoming community for all.

Someone threw a rock through the Hillel Center’s window. Whoever it was, he or she was not followed by a mob that broke into shops owned by Jews. Nothing was burned down. No one was killed. This was not a Kristallnacht.

Not every violent act is a prelude to a reign of terror and death. But the Holocaust was only 70 years ago — within memory for many people, including survivors. No attack can be taken lightly.

After the Holocaust, the Jewish people said, “Never again.” And it seems that others support that resolution, not just for Jews, but for any group.

I’ve seen the comments in IDS articles that support the Jewish community. I’ve seen the Facebook event encouraging people of every religion to wear blue this past Monday in support of the Jewish community. And as I scrolled down through the comments, I saw people who, like me, are abroad for the semester but wore blue in support.

It’s amazing the way people band together to help each other out in times of need. I cannot express how grateful I, as an IU Jew, am for everyone who has shown their support and condemned these violent, hateful acts. I’m so grateful to belong to such an accepting, supportive community. It’s made me feel safe. Yes, this person could throw a rock that hits someone and hurts that person. But this is one person. It isn’t an army of people. The army of people is those who condemn these acts of hatred.

I encourage everyone to stand up against this and every other attack — against Jews, Muslims, Christians and anyone of any religion, race and sexuality. And I wish that others who have been attacked could have this feeling of support and solidarity that IU’s Jews are receiving.

The attacks of students of a different ethnicity earlier in the semester and the horrible things that continue to happen to gay students across the country should be a wake-up call. We have to stand by those in trouble and give them a helping hand. Together, we can stop the spread of hatred and make the world a better place.

It’s easy to stand by and do nothing. It’s much harder to stand up for someone else. It may not seem like much to wear a specific color for a day, but I think it’s everything. By showing support for each other, we showed that we stand united against hateful attacks. It was an active way of letting everyone know that support was there.

Across campus, across Bloomington, across the world, we stand united.
And that’s something more powerful than a rock.


E-mail: hanns@indiana.edu